bonnerj’s posterous

I’m still waiting for Music’s Greatest Night.  It wasn’t this evening, and I’ll guarantee it won’t be next Sunday night.  Because somehow, we’ve lost the essence.  Music needs to be meaningful and fun, loose yet precise, it’s got to encapsulate all elements of life.  To the point where we can’t help but be drawn in, jump up and dance, wide-eyed and elated.

Bob Lefsetz on the "Hope for Haiti Now" telethon. Follow the link. It's definitely worth reading the whole thing.

I can’t think of a better way to end this week than to help spread the news on a new release from none other than the Texas Tornados. You will be hard pressed to come up with a band that is more representative of what many consider to be true “Texas Music”.

via feedproxy.google.com

This looks great! Plus five unreleased tracks with Freddy Fender.

6. Musicians will realize that it's easier to tweet a concert to fans than to actually perform for them. Example: @JensLekman: Just walked on stage. @JensLekman: Tuning. @JensLekman: Just played my first song. @JenLekman: Even though you didn't hear it. @JensLekman: It was better than anything I've ever done. @JensLekman: Tuning. @JensLekman: I love you, too. @JensLekman: I have one more song. @JensLekman: Thank you, goodnight!

via npr.org

 

(Photo by Getty Images)

A three-day banjo festival gets underway at Brooklyn’s Jalopy Theater tonight.

WNYC’s Janaya Williams has this preview:

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The festival will showcase various styles of banjo music from African to Jazz. Historical memorabilia will also be on display, most of it from the collection of Brooklynite Shlomo Pestcoe, who calls himself a “banjo-ologist.” He says New York was a major manufacturing center for the instrument in the 19th century, and even now, the distinctive twang of banjo music can be heard in almost every corner of the city.

“If you go into Caribbean neighborhoods you’ll hear the banjo, if you go into Irish neighborhoods you’ll hear the banjo, if you go into north African neighborhoods you’ll hear the banjo. In Brooklyn, in Queens, wherever, you’re going to hear banjo music,” Shlomo says.

For a full schedule of performances, workshops, and lectures visit the Jalopy Web site.

Below is a video featuring Pat Conte, host of the Secret Museum of the Air on WFMU, who will be performing tonight at the Banjo Roots Festival.

via blogs.wnyc.org

At a convention of biological scientists one researcher remarks to another, "Did you know that in our lab we have switched from mice to banjo players for our experiments?"

"Really?" the other replied, "Why did you switch?"

"Well, for several reasons. we found that banjo players are far more plentiful; the lab assistants don't get so attached to them; the Animal Rights Activists leave us alone; and there are some things even a rat won't do... However, sometimes it is very hard to extrapolate our test results to human beings."

Source: Canonical list of banjo jokes

Just kidding. I love the banjo. Really.

All are invited to participate in the 9th Annual No Pants Subway Ride. The event will take place at 3:00 PM on Sunday, January 10. Everything you need to know is in this post. Please read it carefully!

REQUIREMENTS FOR PARTICIPATION:

1) Willing to take pants off on subway
2) Able to keep a straight face about it

**THIS IS A PARTICIPATORY EVENT. DO NOT SHOW UP UNLESS YOU PLAN TO TAKE YOUR PANTS OFF.**

via improveverywhere.com

I've been living in NYC for nearly 20 years, and this is the first time I've heard about the No Pants Subway Ride. Clearly I need to get out more often. Or not.

Chang W. Lee/The New York Times Gregg Allman performing with the Allman Brothers Band at the Beacon Theater in 2006.

No rock ’n’ roll tradition lasts forever. Bob Dylan plugged in his guitar. Kiss (temporarily) washed off its face paint. And now the Allman Brothers Band is leaving the Beacon Theater.

On Tuesday night the Allman band, whose annual routine of residencies at that Upper West Side theater once seemed as permanent as the bathroom-wall graffiti at CBGB, announced that when it came to New York in March, it would not appear at the Beacon, where it has played 190 shows over the past 20 years. Instead the band will perform at the United Palace Theater in Washington Heights, having lost its longtime Manhattan home to the Cirque du Soleil show “Banana Shpeel.”

How is Gregg Allman, the band’s co-founder and longtime lead singer, coping with the transition? In an interview he spoke about the move from the Beacon to the Palace, his favorite things to do in New York, and, for some reason, Miley Cyrus. These are excerpts from that conversation.

via artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com

Unbelievable: 190 shows over 20 years, and that's that.

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The Best Album Covers Of 2009

by Robin Hilton

In the 10 years Bob and I have been producing All Songs Considered, one thing we've both noticed is how easy it is to judge an album by its cover art. We get several hundred CDs in the mail each week, and as we quickly sort through them, we can often eyeball which ones we're going to like. Rarely do we love the cover of an album and hate the music, or vice versa, though there are exceptions (I almost always love The New Pornographers' songs way more than the band's sometimes baffling cover art.)

Anyway, in no particular order, here are 10 of the most memorable album covers of 2009. (The music is worth checking out, too.)

Sebastien Schuller: Evenfall

Something about the composition of this one reminded me of the amazing cover for Panda Bear's 2007 album Person Pitch. It turns out both images were designed by the gifted collage artist Agnes Montgomery.

Baroness: Blue Record

This is one that's easy to get wrong. If you don't know Baroness, the artwork for the band's Blue Record (which is stunning) might lead you to believe it's a trippy, jam-band album, maybe something like Phish crossed with the lighter side of Led Zeppelin? But it's a head-pounding metal album. It's also, however, a very lush record, and I do think this image by the band's lead guitarist and singer, John Baizley, captures that.

Animal Collective: Merriweather Post Pavilion

There's a beautiful if dizzying optical illusion going on with this one. All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen says it warbles a little bit for him. But if you focus just right, it should roll like an endless series of waves.

The Antlers: Hospice

When this one came in, I remember taking one look at it and thinking, "I'm going to love this." I was right. The stark black lines and blood-red background are bold and aggressive, while still imparting the stark frailty of a life nearing its end.

Timber Timbre: Timber Timbre

Ontario-based singer-songwriter Taylor Kirk, who writes and records under the name Timber Timbre, is one of those bedroom-recording artists with a haunting voice and a love of dark, distant folk. The cover for this self-titled album brings a whole new level of creepiness to the sound: a staircase leading nowhere, with a child-sized witch at the bottom and some guy wearing a helmet or gimp mask or something at the top, staring right at you. Imagine encountering this scene while hiking through the woods.

Early Day Miners: The Treatment

I love how fragmented this image is. The two ghostly figures are fading, headfirst, like distant memories. The faint image of a child splashing in a puddle. The sky and tree line don't meet like they should. I don't know what the bird is about, but somehow it all works together.

Volcano Choir: Unmap

This one makes me want to get up out of my chair, walk magically into the snowy woods and go wherever this person is going. As far as I know, Unmap, the album's title, isn't a real word. But it perfectly captures the sense of isolation in this image -- going under and disconnecting from the rest of the world.

Dirty Projectors: Bitte Orca

I've lost a lot of time contemplating this cover and what it means. Those red and blue splotches seem simple enough, but really, what are they? They look a little like thought-bubbles poking out of their eyes. Are they thinking each other's thoughts? Maybe the artist just thought it looked cool.

Biffy Clyro: Only Revolutions

When I first saw this cover from the Scottish rock band Biffy Clyro, I immediately thought of graphic designer Storm Thorgerson. He's done tons of album covers for Pink Floyd, The Mars Volta and many other bands. It turns out he did this one, too. Damn, I'm good.

DJ Hidden: The Words Below

The latest album from this Dutch producer and DJ depicts a post-apocalyptic cityscape, overgrown and void of life, except for whatever may be lurking in the darkness, at the bottom of that hole. The more you take in this image, the more horrifying it becomes.

1:47 PM ET | 12-29-2009 | permalink

This is a really fun episode. I had a great -- and difficult -- time trying to explain to my 8 year old why time travel could be dangerous.

December 17, 2009

Mayor's Rodent Task Patrol-- Hold the jokes please.

From Martin Collins, deputy chief of staff for Assembly Member Adriano Espaillat: 

The Mayor's Rodent Task Force seeks the help of Washington Heights - Inwood residents to index rodents in the neighborhood. Tenants groups and block associations - this is a chance to help reduce vermin in the community. 

Please email collinsm@assembly.state.ny.us for more information

Interesting use of crowdsourcing. What the task force should do is post this data on a Google map, and open it up for people to post the data themselves.

Judging By The Cover: The Best Cover Songs Of 2009

by Michael Katzif

Every time a popular book is adapted for film or a beloved movie is remade, the first thing fans ask is "how does it compare to the original?" Of course it's natural to want our favorite things -- be it a book, a movie, a television series -- to receive the love and careful hand they deserve. We want the new version to have something fresh to say, but we don't want it to detract from or adulterate the original in any way.

When it comes to music, the best cover songs are those that take an old gem and make the listener rethink it, or discover parts that might have been missed in the original. They can pay tribute to an icon, introduce an artist's own musical tastes or expose an unknown influence worth discovering and delving into further. Plus, there's nothing quite like that moment at a show when a band comes back on stage after a long applause and pulls out a surprising cover song for an encore.

So while every year, during "list-making" season, the focus is typically -- and rightfully -- focused around new, original works, think of this list as the equivalent to nominations for "Best Adapted Screenplay."

via npr.org